God does not send people to hell. Any person who deliberately rejects Jesus cannot enter, with him, into heaven. “No one comes to the Father except through me” said Jesus. Lucifer and his followers rejected God and so continue their exitence away from God’s blissful and glorious realm. Without God’s love and joy anything would be hell. And this is how it is with those who choose to reject God.

We still have a free will, even when we take our last breath, and we can say YES to Jesus, or, as it is so very hard to understand or even believe, we can say NO and we will send ourselves to hell. God is all Merciful, but, He is also, very Just and very demanding, as most of us will find out when we meet Jesus face to face, and we will have to spend time in purgatory to get ourselves cleaned up from our faults, sins, etc.. +JMJ+

Not quite. It’s true humans cannot determine which judgement someone received upon death. That part of the Vatican statement was correct. However, to say humans cannot judge an act of suicide as an immoral act that leads to hell is flat-out wrong. Judas’ was in despair, and from the gospels we know despair is a fatal sin that God does NOT forgive. To despair is to turn away from God’s mercy; to refuse to accept one’s cross; try to escape the cross; distrust God to help one carry the cross.  Prudent Catholics should look beyond the equivocable, politically correct, murky statements the Vatican has been making lately on grave moral matters. Without a stern reproach, men and women will rationalize euthanasia and assisted suicide as morally acceptable.

I was in a Diaconate course in my Diocese.  One of the books was “Good Goats, Bad Sheep.  Don’t bother paying for it as it’s full of heresy.  One of the Priest-speakers even mused that ‘maybe’ at the end of time, God will let most out of hell.  I read our Catholic catechism paragraph on that subject.  You should’ve seen the dirty looks I got from some of the leadership!

Anyone who doesn’t think there should be a hell is like saying we shouldn’t have prisons here in the world, letting dangerous, violent individuals walk free to commit crimes against others. Clearly, if there isn’t a hell in eternity separating the good from the evil, there should be. Now what exactly hell is…there are varying accounts - and it is not specifically described in Scriptures. Let’s hope that the punishments of hell do not exceed the actual sins of the individuals.  But then again, it is possible that hell being voluntary separation from God - God isn’t present there to govern what goes on in hell. In that case, maybe souls do suffer in excess of their sins, because, well, it’s separation from God and at a certain point, His justice. What is clear is that gambling that there isn’t a hell in which the deserving suffer in eternity, when there is so much suffering of those who are undeserving that is permitted in this world, is an unsafe bet to say the very least.

@Hat Lady, best not to be so quick to judge.  You do not know the number of people who are suicidal (a form of insanity) or suffer from clinical depression from a mental disorder —even Catholics.  Not everyone is strong in the faith.  Most people do not even know nor have a relationship with the person of Jesus.  The blood of Christ is sufficient to be applied to such people the same as for children before the age of reason.  For those who are so insistent upon their sin, God eventually gives them over to a reprobate mind as Paul outlines in Romans 1.  These folks send themselves to Hell.

I would add that for something to truly be a grave moral sin, according to the catechism, one has to be in a state of freedom. Mental illness, among other situations, is not considered such a state. It’s a murky area in which ultimately God decides the fate of such people.

Thanks for your excellent esplanation of the concept of Hell.

God bless you,

Teofila from Poland.

Sorry, it should be “concept of hell” of course.
Greetings.

  John Paul II and Benedict have both said that we do not know if Judas is in hell.  Augustine and Chrysostom said he was in hell.  True…the Church never declared it….but Christ did or His words are deceptive when put in English…“not one of them perished but the son of perdition”...” it were better for that man had he never been born”.  I’ll go with Augustine and Chrysostom because John Paul II and Benedict have a very non traditional approach to Bible hermeneutics on death topics.  That’s how they reversed the death penalty issue….by ignoring Genesis 9:5-6 and Romans 13:4 which appear not once in Evangelium Vitae though part of the first cite does.  If you don’t want the rapist- murderer of little girls executed, then you don’t want anyone in hell either.  Sorry….Catholicism does not believe Popes are constantly infallible despite internet- catholicism’s constant flattery of them.

Tony
    There is a very interesting concept in Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.  You said you hoped the punishment in hell would not exceed the sinner’s acts.  Aquinas said there are two turnings in mortal sin: a turning toward mutable goods inordinately…and a turning away from God.  The eternal nature of hell comes from the second turning not from the first.
The evil within gluttony is over quickly if the person does not repeat it.  Yet unrepented gluttony can result in hell which is eternal.  The duration of hell never comes from the duration of the act and its results.  It comes from turning away from the eternal God.
The degree of punishment comes from the turning toward a mutable good inordinately…the duration of hell comes from the turning from the eternal God.

And the duration of hell is ...—-forever.  You don’t escape.  Jesus nor Mary come to rescue you after a time of punishment.  The reason the passion and execution of Jesus is so violently ugly is because your sins are so ugly in His sight.  If you fail to take Calvary’s cross seriously you will never take hell seriously.  It is a literal place, not a concept.  Mortal sin or veniel sin doesn’t matter.  All sin is sin.  Hell is for all unrepentent sinners who have rejected Christ.

In the pew,
    Venial sin does not exclude from heaven.  If scripture is your only thing, we know this from
James 3:2… ” For in many things we all offend.”.  For Catholics, we do not value your personal ruminations on James 3:2 over Tradition and over the Council of Trent.

bill,  measurement (or degree) of sin is not at issue.  King David was guilty of murder and adultry.  A man’s failing to repent of sin is to reject Christ and will thus keep you from eternal life with Him.

In the pew,
  This is Catholic here.  We have no interest in your ignoring James 3:2.  That was a holy man, James, addressing holy people and saying that he and they offend in many things. 
    You are driving down the street.  A gorgeous girl in scant clothing is on the sidewalk wheeling her child in a carriage.  You instinctively look with sexual feelings into partial consent of the will area but then catch yourself and turn away.  But you looked briefly with partial consent.  You sinned venially.  Had you kept looking sexually at a married woman with full consent, then you’d be hell bound according to Christ’s words about such looking.  James was talking about the look with partial consent of the will.  Protestants of your type talk strict but then your group first led to lenient divorce laws and helped the west destroy marriage throughout the entire Western civilization.  Drop the fake strictness.  The legacy of that thinking is actually the opposite if strictness.  But it will work on the uneducated.  But if people read well, they won’t buy it.

Suicide is certainly grave matter, but for it to be a mortal sin, you have to commit it with full knowledge that it is wrong, and complete consent of will. If a person is suffering from some sort of impairment of their mental faculties, such as clinical depression, they may not be capable of giving complete consent of will.  If we don’t fully know the state of a suicide victim’s mental health, there’s no way we can know for certain that they were damned.

The fact that many people in our society don’t even believe hell exists….exactly what the devil wants them to believe.  The Church’s teachings on the four last things…..judgment, heaven, purgatory and hell…very much need to be brought out from between the covers of the book (ccc Catechism of the Catholic Church) and into every pulpit and billboard (for those too busy to go to church) around.  The MERCY of God is unfathomable for anyone who repents and turns back to God.  PAX,

Bill:    James indicates the nature of all men, that of being in a state of unholiness inherited from the sin of Adam.  Is not all sin an offense to the Lord —even the “near occasion” which we confess in the Act of Contrition?  “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” so says Jesus in Mathew 21 because they have confessed and repented.  The good news of the gospel is forgiveness, not condemnation.

Mal

Why would your God create us, knowing we will reject him, just so he can send us to hell? If God knows what will happen and has a grand plan, there is no free will, no choice, as our lives are pre-destined. Sounds like a pretty horrible deity if you ask me.

In the Pew,
  You are a tour of Protestant errors.  You write: “James indicates the nature of all men, that of being in a state of unholiness inherited from the sin of Adam”..... yet God sees a diffierent nature in the baptized in 2 Cor.5:17 “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, the former things have passed away…behold they are made new.” 

Dying suddenly with unrepented venial sins only….puts one in Purgatory not hell (read your June 11, 6:25PM post).
Sudden death happens everyday as do venial sins.  You didn’t respond to my example of the gorgeous girl on the street because you commit venial sins every week but don’t want to actually say you do.  You don’t use your real name on the internet and you don’t admit your real reality as to venial sin which are not horrible to God: ”
    “Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
26 Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”. One comes out of purgatory not out of hell.  That’s Christ talking of venial sin and purgatory.

  Folks in general,
      I’ll not respond to him anymore because he has the endless foolish response syndrome.  With every orthodox
answer, he will produce another Protestant lemon ( and I greatly admire the Amish…not for their thoughts but for their
actions as Christ twice praised the actions of heretical Samaritans).

A person who meets all the criteria for persistence in serious sin for a lifetime has as much chance of getting into heaven as a computer geek has of surviving in an Amish household. No electricity. End of discussion about Hell. Now about pro-abortionist politicians making it to heaven?????? Gotcha..that is God’s call. Going to communion,  more tricky but not too difficult to decide IF one is the bishop involved and has all the facts from the sinner

We send ourselves to hell when we turn our back on God. We walk from light to dark. Sin in and of itself is a punishment. We may justify anything but it doean’t change the fact we’re hurting ourselves more than anyone else when we sin. With God there is heaven, without God there is hell.

Years ago on the Mother Angelica LIVE program, a caller posed the question to guest Father John Hardon, “Does God love those who are in hell?”.  Without even a nano-second of a pause, Father responded, “He loves them with His justice”.

Posted by The Rational Libertarian on Tuesday, Jun 12, 2012 5:01 AM (EST):Mal

Why would your God create us, knowing we will reject him, just so he can send us to hell? If God knows what will happen and has a grand plan, there is no free will, no choice, as our lives are pre-destined. Sounds like a pretty horrible deity if you ask me.
************
Sounds like you might be posting on the wrong site.We’re(mostly) Catholics here.
What you’re describing reminds me more of the theology the old timey, backwoods folk ascribed to.When caught moonshining,feuding, or thieving, their excuse was that they were predestined for Hell anyway & were just acting according to God’s will for them.

bill, of course God sees it differently in the baptized.  The baptized, however, still sin and need to confess sin (agree with the Lord) and repent (to change one’s sinful behavior).  Baptism does not give one immunity from sin.  But as one’s nature changes through Baptism, your attitude and sensitivity changes which enables you to recognize sin and offenses before Lord more easily.  Your old nature no longer fits your new identity in Christ and thus your desire is now motivated to please Him more rather than yourself.

bill, I purposely did not address your “girl on the street” analogy because it’s not material to me.  Your example does not “fit” my identity in Christ.  For you to bring this topic up twice, I can see how some men might struggle with it, but I do not.  It is a false premise to suggest that a Catholic or Christian man cannot notice an attractive woman without his mind immediately turning to sexual or lustful thoughts.

Jesus spoke about the sin of LUSTING in the HEART, not whether we admire nicely formed mammary glands or a proportionate gluteus maximus.  He designed us to be attractive to the other gender. Modesty and reverence and respect in words, actions and dress are part of human handling of our observations.

bill writes:  [but then your group first led to lenient divorce laws and helped the west destroy marriage throughout the entire Western civilization.]    Thank you, bill, for laying divorce throughout the entirety of Western Civilization at my door.  The Lord advised Israel to not marry pagan women in the same way Paul advises believers to only marry believers.  A believing husband and a believing wife is your hedge against divorce.  People make their own choices, however, in spite of God’s warnings and of His desire to protect you.    But since you wish to pontificate as Mr. Catholic policeman regarding divorce, I doubt you will find many Catholic women supporting your view that Catholic women should stay married to men who are continual adulterers, drunkards, drug addicts, gamblers, men who physically and emotionally beat up their wives, sexually assault their adolescent daughters and those lazy bums who don’t financially support their wife and family.  How long should Catholic women be required to endure this type of marriage?

  Til death unless the spouse was always that way which indicates he or she may not have ever made a real vow.  If said spouse was good in the beginning but turned bad, that is what the vow is for….to accomplish with grace a sign of God not giving up on His spouse…the Church.

ps…Catholic spouses must separate where there is physical or emotional abuse but wait for change in the other spouse from that distance as they pray for them.

It isn’t so much about divorce as it’s about remarriage. True,sacramental
marriage bonds can not be broken by any court, but sometimes civil divorce may be needed to legally protect one spouse’s interests from the actions of the other.“in the pew” gave some good examples.

The only sin worthy of Christian Hell is unbelief (blasphemy, heresey, paganism, atheism).

christine: If you check your NT you will see that MT 25, the parable of the king and the goats/sheep you know that recognising each human as an image of God in the Flesh -which is who JESUS became, GOD-MAN, determines oor sheep-goat status. John’s letters say you are a liar, and a murderer, if you say you love God and hate neighbour, because YOU are JESUS and neighbour is also. No need for abstract words like pagan/atheist because that says nothing about how those treat neighbour. Some atheists are pro-life for the unborn and some “Christians” and “Catholics” are for abortion. Unborn children are made in God’s image and likeness, GENESIS is the key to that “Let us make man in our image and likeness, male and female HE made them. ” That simplifies a lot for any reflecting believer.

Posted by Christine on Tuesday, Jun 12, 2012 5:36 PM (EST):The only sin worthy of Christian Hell is unbelief (blasphemy, heresey, paganism, atheism).
***********
You may have the right to hold that opinion & express it on a Catholic site,but that’s not our Catholic teaching.

Excuse me Ms Kathleen, but how wrong can one be when quoting from the Bible directly with no spin and stating obvious facts? For starters- “unbelief” and “atheism” and “heresy” are included in refusal to see JESUS in others. Jesus tied loving GOD-NEIGHBOUR together. Read Matthew 25 before replying please.

LoneThinker,
This is a Catholic site.You’re free to post personal views but expect Catholics to differ.The Catechism of the Catholic Church is easy to access online & I’d encourage you to read the sections pertinent to this topic.Thanks!

In the gospel, Jesus spoke of Hell far more than He ever did of Heaven and issued stern warnings to the unrepentent.  Since there are none righteous and every man sins daily, the key is to understand man’s hopeless and utterly lost condition *apart* from Jesus.  This is why we need a Savior—Christ the Lord.  The cross and His shed blood at Calvary were required to satisfy the Father’s justice that the penalty for sin is death.  It was He (who knew no sin) bore our sin, became sin and paid our price.  Only a sinless person could do this —the ultimate perfection in Jewish sacrificial rites in the person of Christ.  An unblemished lamb.  “Behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.”  As in a judicial court of law, we (still sinners) are no less guility, it’s only that our fine/penalty has been paid for.  Even his name (Jesus) “Yeshua” in the Hebrew means Savior/Salvation (or “that which is delivered safely).  As the angel revealed to Mary in Matthew 1:21:  “and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save (His people) from their sins.”  Another key to note is that He will save “His people” —not all people.

As for Hell, Revelation 21:8 is very clear concerning the Lake of Fire and describes the Final Judgment.  “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the ake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”  The greatest of all deception is that Satan convinces men you always have time to repent of sin later on.  That is, until an untimely death prevents you from doing so.

Kathleen: I am Catholic. I know the Bible from reading and prayer and I also am quite familiar with the CCC. I do not engage in stupid as your two comments to my comment and reply to your first would seem to indicate.

The many references Jesus made to “the kingdom,” including the kingdom being within us are all about heaven and far outweigh the hell references. The kingdom is not just coming it is operative here within each believer.

LoneThinker,
Sorry, your post is a bit difficult to understand but I’m guessing you must differ in opinion.
God bless!

LoneThinker, more than likely there is a misunderstanding between you and Kathleen so let’s be more charitable.  Kathleen, I’m sure you’re not saying Catholic teaching is contrary to John 3:18 “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”  It is clear that once having heard truth (the gospel) and then choosing to reject it, you stand condemned.  In addition, 1 John 12 says:  “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  Eternal life with Christ is impossible for those who are dead spiritually.

Dear In the pew,
I don’t believe Catholic teaching’s at odds with scripture but I prefer to use the Catechism as a reference which considers the whole issue through the lense of our Faith, rather than individual bible verses which can be taken out of context.

Kathleen, I always appreciate your comments.  In this case, however, you will please need to extrapolate re “I prefer the Catechism” as opposed to the gospel.  Do we not take Jesus as His word?  What specifically is taken out of context?  I am not saying you do, but I have experience with people who prefer a warmed-over, more palatable gospel because it sounds nicer.  Unfortunately, such teaching can also be a false gospel because it too is taken “out of context.”

What does the Catechism teach re John 3:18?

In the Pew,
The Catechism itself states it presents Catholic Doctrine with its sources being Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers, the liturgy, & the Magisterium.We don’t just go by sola scriptura, (& of course as a Catholic you know that, too).In looking at the section of the Catechism on Hell & the Last Judgement(1033-1041)I see many references from scripture,St. Augustine,various councils, etc. It sounds more thorough & balanced than “warmed over.”
But I think I hear what you’re saying as far as attempting to make the gospel more palatable.It is what it is & should be challenging, not lukewarm.Maybe that’s why I like Flannery O’Connor’s writing.She doesn’t fool around.
I see John 3:18 used a a reference in at least 3 different places in the Catechism but not a specific section devoted to that verse.
Thanks for helping me open up my copy today!
God bless.

in the pew; Thanks. Recall also my reference to the Sheep -who see Jesus in others, all are iekons of God (icons English) as in Genesis and Jesus was on earth THE icon of God as Paul says. Ignoring human suffering and ddenying human dignity is Goat-ish, recognising the divine in others is Sheep-ish and that settles that.

People send themselves to hell either by their actions or words. God is just fulfilling the person’s request because obviously the person doesn’t want to be with God, the angels, the saints, their families and the most holy of celebrities for eternity. Personally, I am aiming for Purgatory as best way to get to Heaven.

Lonethinker:  Christ-like behavior and attitude toward others is a virtue of Christian life and includes extending Christian charity and compassion even to the most wretched.  (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”).  We emulate Christ through corporal and spiritual works of mercy because His Spirit living within us enables us to recognize His presence in our brothers and sisters.  We must also keep in perspective, however, not to become so mushy concerning our seeing Christ in others.  Indeed, Jesus displayed no love for the Scribes and Pharisees when calling them “hypocrites, and whitewashed sepulchers” in Matthew 23. Nor His reference to them as “You brood of vipers.”  We are required to act Christ-like toward others even though many people clearly are totally devoid of Christ.

In none of this do I see anything that refutes this argument:

In self-contradiction, Akin says that it’s a mystery we don’t really understand. “How can God be all good, and allow this to happen.” Then he goes on to say, “Well, we don’t understand, but the Scriptures are clear - Jesus says so.”

1) Well yes, but Jesus never talks about the choice, or when it is made, yet there is doctrine to that issue. In Matthew, and Revelation, sinners are cast into the unquenchable fire, they do not choose it. At no point, when mentioning hell, does Scripture say that men choose it. In Matthew and Revelation both, sinners are cast into the unquenchable fire. To be cast, an agent has to be doing the casting (in one case, it is attributed to angels). In fact, in one of the most troubling passages the new testament has to offer, the rich man is actually repentant of his sin, yet remains in hell for the way he treated the beggar. But if sin is a choice away from God, how can this be? Why does he care for family, or want to warn them? After all, he has chosen the absence of love. Yet, there he remains. Inexplicable.

2) God the Father loves us more than any being in the universe. I’m the parent of two children, now grown. When they were three years old, I would never have let them touch a hot stove, even when they wanted to stick their hands in the pretty gas fire. I warned them it would hurt, and they knew it would anger me if they did it, but I pulled their hand away from the stove whenever they got near enough to touch it. Do they love me less for that? After all, I didn’t allow their free will to touch the stove. Now, we are even less than three year olds in the face of God. Isn’t that why Mr. Akin says we don’t understand his mysterious ways? Yet God doesn’t just allow us to let our free will touch the fire, but allows it to immerse our entire being in it.

I pray a daily rosary for the faith to believe this doctrine. I still practice the sacraments, go to confession weekly, and have not given up. However, no one has explained the doctrine of hell in a way that paints God as a fair being, and Mr. Akin is no exception.

Edit: When I said fair being, I was not being accurate. I meant just. Nobody expects us to believe God is fair.

Tom R.  A “just” God requires payment for sin.  He does not wink at sin.  Jesus paid your penalty.  Fairness?  The Lord told Moses there are “blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.  There is nothing mysterious about how the Lord operates.  He is a God of mercy, kindless, love and faithfulness.  He is also a God of justice.  Don’t worry about understanding any purported doctrine of Hell, just know it exists because Jesus spoke and warned so often about it.

“Don’t worry about understanding any purported doctrine of Hell, just know it exists,” is contrary to the nature that God gave me. I’m sorry, but I do worry about it. As far as I’m concerned, blind faith is faithlessness.

Tom R, All sorts of people have theories or have created doctrine concerning Hell.  Since Jesus is the only person we know of with direct knowledge and issued warnings for us, what else in the gospel do you not believe?

@In the pew:
1) I didn’t purport to have a theory of hell.

2) I didn’t say I didn’t believe. I said I pray to continue believing, and that I have great difficulty with this doctrine. Is having difficulty or failure to understand now also under condemnation by the Church?

I did post why I have difficulty with this doctrine. Instead of an answer to the issues I posed, I get attacked as not believing. It’s just an alternative form of an ad hominem attack. “I believe better than you do” is not conducive to discussion, and as far as I’m aware, the magisterium has yet to condemn discussion.

Thanks for your time, anyway.

There is a book out there, that answers this question. check it out, with these ISBN-10: 1450058434 , ISBN-13: 978-1450058438

The incarnation of Jesus was to show us that each person is made in God’s image and likeness as Genesis says- and JESUS is THE icon of God (Greek, eikon). MATTHEW 25 spells out how to make it to heaven or hell. Goats who ignore the suffering of Jesus in others are hell-bent; Sheep reverence, honour and respect the human person, they get to heaven. Jesus says it is not a matter or knowing but of doing that to both sides. As Judge-Shepherd-King HE simply carries out the choice we make. Free will is our human soul’s precious gift- use it wisely and we gain, waste it and we are dead. Forever.

LoneThinker, you have made a biblically incorrect statement.  The incarnation of Christ was not to show us each person is made in God’s image and likeness.  The incarnation was for propitiation—alone.  He came to die.

in the pew; I could have added, one of the reasons but your theology is not fully accurate either. The Franciscan School of Theology taught that Jesus would have come anyway. St Paul calls HIM IMAGE of the Invisible God and in Phil. 2:6-11 shows that He ( reversing the PRIDE of ADAM-EVE by showing that HE (and MARY, the New Eve) HUMBLED HIMSELF BECOMING OBEDIENT to the human condition, even unto death on the Cross. HE and SHE both said BE IT DONE UNTO ME, NOT MY WILL in their own way. If you think HE came ONLY to die for us, and not to show us how to UNDO the Adam-Eve rebellion in our own Journey, you are dpriving yourself of the full beauty of what being Christ-beaers is and is meant to be. Protestants see hin in Luther’s example of snow covering over house-waste in the medieval home. We see HIM by baptism and Eucharist and Reconciliation TRANSFORMING US, deifying us as the Eastern Church Fathers called it. Much richer and more accompdating to our human capacity to CHOOSE Jesus over Adam-Eve.

LoneThinker, I’ll accept much of your explanation since it’s foundational.  There is a problem, though, with “He would have come anyway.”  If man had not sinned the incarnation was not required since Adam and Eve had perfect union with Christ.  No physical death would have occurred.  It would have been more accurate on my part to say Jesus came *primarily* to die to ransom us from eternal death and give sight to our blindness of failing to see our need to be saved.  A natural man is oblivious to this and sees no need of a savior.  The man born of the Spirit, however, has a different and more humbling understanding.  This is what Jesus explained to Nicodemus.  If Jesus only came to die, three years of ministry were not required.  The transformation you reference, though, is reflective by the events and parables occurring in His gospel.  Your point is well taken.  By ourselves alone, man is in a lost condition due to our sin nature so the example you cite from Luther does have merit.  The act of Baptism does not provide us immunization from sin but does elevate our consciousness to the redemptive price Christ has paid on our behalf.  A price we are incapable of paying.  We are no less guility.  It is the shed blood of Jesus applied to us which is the covering.  One mystery of the gospel concerning Nicodemus is that we don’t really know if he really came to understand what Jesus was telling him.  The gospel doesn’t say.

PLEASE READ TWO BLOGS:

http://www.erikrp.com/2012/07/01/hellhole/

and

http://www.erikrp.com/2012/01/09/hell/

It will shock you.

Hell, as it’s commonly described here, is illegal in most “civilized” countries. It violates the constitutional or statutory provisions against double jeopardy:
Commit sins. Die. That’s one punishment. (Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.”)
Then, taken to Hell to be tortured. That’s two punishments for the same sins.

‘And man created God in his image.’

Doug; Your logic would meet the Leftist test. Argue to a conclusion from biased and faulty premises. Lovingly yours, The Holy Trinity.